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Sunflowers are very easy to grow. All they need is lots of sunlight. So be sure to choose a spot that gets a lot of sunlight. Some sunflower variety can grow up to 14 feet so be sure to give them enough space or room to grow. It’s also a plus that you can roast their seeds once the flowers are wilted.

Marigold

Marigolds are easy to grow and they also grow fast. Once you plant them you don’t have to wait long before you see them grow. And there are many colors to choose from.

Pansy

Pansies are cheap, cute, colorful and very easy to grow. You can choose to plant them as seeds or seedling. Either way, they will grow. These small flowers are perfect for spring or whenever you want to add a pop of color in your garden or porch or wherever. 😀 Fancy Pansy 😀

Aster

There are different varieties of Aster. Asters are not only easy to grow but they’re also a great addition to any garden. They look so pretty and they add a nice pop of color.

5. Dahlia

Dahlias grow from tuberous roots and have bold colored flowers. They are easy to grow and are available in different vibrant colors.

6. Eschscholzia

Also known as Californian Poppy. These beautiful and vibrant flowers thrive in poor, dry or sandy soil and lots of sunshine. Making them easy to grow and care for.

7. Sweet Pea

Sweet Peas are not only beautiful and easy to grow, they also smell good. They have this lovely floral fragrance that makes them such a lovely addition to any garden.

This is a good article for beginner gardeners. Just in case you are wondering what kinds of vegetables you can plant with minimal effort.

Here are the top 5 easiest vegetables to grow…

1. Spinach

Spinach is not only easy to grow but also very useful. It is vitamin-packed and it can be used for smoothies, salads, soups, baby food and a lot more.

2. Lettuce

Lettuce is very easy to grow. Once you cut the leaves you can use the roots and grow lettuce after lettuce from it. You can easily make salads with lettuce or use it for smoothies or sandwiches.

3. Radishes

Radishes are very easy to grow. They are actually very ideal for beginners. There are different types of radishes and all of them are easy to grow. You can buy seeds and just plant them and watch them grow. You can use them for salads, appetizers, sandwiches or just for plain snacking.

4. Carrots

Carrots are also very easy to grow. They are also very useful and vitamin-packed. They can be used for stews, salads, soups, baby food, smoothies, juices and a lot more! There are various types of carrots that you can try growing.

5. Tomatoes

Of course, we won’t forget about the tomatoes. 😀 Tomatoes are also perfect for beginners. They don’t need a lot of tending but they do need lots of sunlight. Also, you can use them for a lot of things like, sauces, stews, salads and a lot more. If you want to know how to plant tomatoes, you can read this post

This top 10 list of must-have gardening tools is for both beginner or intermediate gardener.

1. Hand Trowel

A hand trowel is essential for digging small holes for seeds or seedlings. It is also very useful for any gardening activity involving planting or preparing your soil. It is very useful for scooping out soil and turning over hardened soil.

2. Gloves

Gloves can protect your hands from callouses and blisters. It is very likely that you’ll get blisters and callouses when you garden for long hours. It will also prevent your nails from staining. It is better to wear gloves, even advisable when you handle fertilizers, both organic or chemical fertilizers.

3. Kneeling Pad

A kneeling pad is not really essential. But it can be, especially if you are gardening for long hours. Kneeling in a bad position can cause pain and may damage your knees. It is advisable to use a kneeling pad if you already have existing knee pains and can’t avoid kneeling while doing garden work. A kneeling pad can make your gardening work more enjoyable and comfortable.

4. Spade

A spade is a multi-purpose tool. It can be used as a digger or you can use it to chop some tough roots or stems. Those are just some of the things you can use a spade with.

5. Hoe

Hoes are available in different sizes. This is an essential tool for gardening. It is used for plowing, preparing your garden plot and more. They are relatively inexpensive and are durable. A hoe is also perfect for destroying weeds.

6. Rake

A rake is a very useful gardening tool. When preparing your patch of soil for gardening you can use the rake to get rid of rocks, dirt, dried leaves etc. You can also it for preparing your soil and planting. And during autumn you can also use for raking the dried leaves. 😀

7. Shovel

A shovel is an efficient scooping tool. The blade/scooper is much bigger than a hand trowel. It’ll make your digging faster if you are planting a tree or big plant. It is also very useful for prepping your garden plot, fertilizing or digging a compost pit.

8. Soil Knife

A soil knife is a Japanese tool. It is a very useful tool for dividing bushes or perennials, cutting through tough roots, transplanting, cutting tough weeds and a lot more. It is a versatile tool.

Credit A.M. Leonard Co

9. Weeders

Weeds, everyone has them…in their gardens or backyards. This is an efficient tool to get rid of weeds. It is simple and uncomplicated. There are different types. Get the one the fits your needs.

10. Watering Hose or Watering Can

If you are a beginner and not yet ready to invest on a watering hose, a watering can will be very useful to you. Of course, plants need water. But if you have a bigger garden and a budget, investing on a good quality hose will be a good decision. It is efficient. Because you’ll be able to water a lot of plants in one go and don’t have to refill it.

Tomatoes are the most common garden plant that people grow. The reason being that, it is easy to plant and not a high maintenance plant. Plus, who doesn’t love tomatoes, right? 😀

Tomatoes are versatile, they are good as snack, for soups, stews, sauces and more! 🙂

Here’s a simple step by step “how-to” on how to grow tomatoes from seeds:

Step 1: Purchase/obtain a pack of tomato seeds

It is totally up to you on which tomato variety you want to plant.

Step 2: Decide where you will plant it

There are a few choices on where to plant your tomato seeds. It can be in a pot, a planter box or directly in the ground. So, it is up to you where you will plant them.

Step 3: The dirt

Be sure that you use good planting or potting soil. It is best the it is fertilised to assure you that the seed will prosper. It’s also nice if you can incorporate some finely grounded eggshells in your planting soil. Eggshells are rich in calcium and it’ll really help your seeds to grow.

Step 4: Planting the seed

If you’re planting in a pot, make a 2 inch-deep hole and put a seed or two in it. Lightly cover the hole.

If planting in a planter box make sure to give enough space in between seeds. You have to anticipate the seeds when they grow into a plant so they have enough space to sprout and grow. Approximately 1-2 feet apart is sufficient enough space in between seeds. The same goes with planting directly on the ground.

Step 5: Watering the seeds

Do not overwater. Weather is also a factor to consider when watering your plants. If it’s summer, water generously, if not just make sure that at least 2 inches of the soil is wet. The key is to not overwater. You don’t want the seeds to rot and not sprout.

During summer, water everyday. Other seasons, just check. If the soil is too wet, then water it the next day, if it’s windy, soil gets dry easily so water it everyday. Bottomline is, you be the judge.

Step 6: Continue caring for your seeds

In 5-6 days you will see you seeds sprouting. Again, do not overwater them. Since they’re in a delicate stage. You don’t want them to drown. Regularly fertilize, mulch and add more eggshells, cage or fence along the way, until they reach their ideal growth.

Here at AttractiveGarden.com we strive to provide people humane and environment-friendly ways to control garden pests.

Slugs and snails are one of the most common pests that troubles people’s gardens. They ruin plants and crops. And they’re not really beneficial to one’s garden.

A bunch of slimy slugsA common snail you can find in your garden

Here are some simple, humane and environment-friendly ways on how to repel them:

Seaweed

If you mix chopped up seaweed in your garden mulch, it’ll automatically repel slugs and snails from your plants. There’s something about seaweed that slugs and snails don’t like. It is also a plus that seaweed is good mulch material. Seaweed is not easily accessible to everyone but if you know someone who works near the beach you can get these for free. Because you’ll be able to find seaweed on the shore. Also, if you happen to live near a beach this is a good alternative than settling for chemical and poisonous pest control concontions.

Some Seaweed

Copper

Thin copper sheets cut into small pieces, are also good slug and snail repellant. Copper sheets can be purchased in most hardware shops and it is not really expensive.

Place the cut up copper sheets around your plants and once a snail or slug crawls over it, the sheets will send some electric shocks. The electric shocks won’t kill the slugs and snails, but it is enough to not make them want to go back there.

You can also use some small copper clips instead. You can buy these clips in an office/school supply store.

Copper Clips

Eggshells

Eggshells are double purpose. They provide fertilisation on the earth you’re planting your plants in and also repels snails and slugs. The snails’ and slugs’ underbodies are very delicate. So the sharp edges of the eggshells really gives them some pain. That pain is enough for them to not go back or go near that area again. It is also a very big plus that eggshells are really easy to obtain. Very environmental friendly too.

Wood Chips and Gravel

These have the same effect like the eggshells. But unlike eggshells, wood chips and gravel can make your garden look nice and presentable.

Wood chips are easily accessible. You can find sacks of wood chips in gardening supply stores. Available in different quantities and colors.

Like wood chips, you can also easily buy gravel in different quantities in gardening supply stores or hardware stores or sections. Also available in different colors and sizes.

Chickens and Ducks

If you want to go with an ecosystem approach. Chickens and ducks are slugs’ and snails’ natural predators. If you are fine with this method, you should go ahead and go with this route. This is actually quite beneficial. Chickens and ducks lay eggs, you can also breed them and they can also act as your pesticides. This is not really a humane method, but it is more of ecosystem-friendly and environmental friendly at the same time.

There are a lot of other options than going the poisonous or chemical-based pesticides. These methods can be easily done, so choose one that fits you the best.

Eggshells are a perfect fertilizer for plants. Instead of throwing them away, you can crush them and sprinkle it around the plant you want to fertilize or mix it with your planting soil. This one is a very easy and inexpensive garden hack that everyone can try.

2. Wine Bottles

Empty wine bottles can be used as garden edging, border or short fence. All you need are empty wine bottles. Again, instead of throwing empty wine bottles, all you have to do is get rid of the wine label (or not if you prefer it that way), then bury the bottle (upside down) halfway in the ground (or depends on how low or high you want your edging or border to be).

3. Baking Soda

The ever useful baking soda. This one is a simple garden hack. If you want sweeter tomatoes, all you have to do is to sprinkle some baking soda around your tomato plant. Once you harvest your tomatoes, you’ll notice that they are sweeter. It doesn’t hurt to try this, since baking soda is inexpensive.

4. Coffee Filters

Another simple hack. If your pots have really big holes or if you keep on losing soil in your pots, this hack is perfect for you. Before filling your pot with soil, lay a coffee filter inside the pot. Once the coffee filter is in the pot, you can start filling it up with potting soil.

5. Plastic Forks

You can stick some plastic forks around or beside your plants if you don’t want your pets or some creatures to destroy them. The plastic forks will provide a simple nudge to your pets or animals to prevent them from creating further damage on your plants, flower bed or vegetable garden.

Summary: In this article you will learn about some of the best types of landscape trees to use in landscape gardening.

Many landscape gardening specialists know that it is very important to choose landscape trees according to the current season. So below you will find landscape trees categorized according to every season:

In Spring

Magnolia

A Magnolia Tree

In spring a garden with flowers look wonderful. So any well-designed garden should contain a flowering landscape tree. For this purpose, you can use magnolia trees that are one of the most charming flowering trees.

Rose of sharon

Vibrant Colored Rose of Sharon

Rose of Sharon is a flowering shrub, though some people consider it a landscape “tree”, as it grows tall and can be pruned and left with a single trunk. The best feature of this plant is that it blooms a bit late and this period lasts for a long time. Therefore you may come across this valuable plant in many gardens.

In Summer

Dogwood trees

A Dogwood Tree

But some gardeners prefer “2 for 1” options in landscape gardening. From this point, dogwood trees may be the best choice: with its blooms in spring, a branching pattern in summer and colorful foliage in autumn. Besides, your garden will turn into a favorite place of wild birds attracted by these landscape trees.
In Autumn

Maple Trees

A Maple Tree

There are several types of maple trees you can choose from to use in landscape gardening. But some types of the maples native to North America or Europe are considered to be more beautiful. Thanks to their greater size, these trees provide shade in summer. So surely consider one or more types of maple trees that will decorate your garden on a cloudy autumn day.

In Winter

Blue spruce trees

Blue Spruce Up Close

You worry about how your garden will look in winter? Don’t worry! You can keep your garden evergreen and beautiful in any season, if you select the right landscape trees for your garden. For example, you may plant evergreen blue spruce trees that will keep your garden attractive even in cold winter.

Alberta spruce trees

This is another kind of spruce which are often planted on the entryway to a house.
Arborvitae trees
As for these evergreen trees, they do not only decorate a garden, but also can be used in order to create “living wall” around your house to give your garden a mysterious look.

A zen garden is more of a type of a garden than design. But the design aesthetic that is involved with this garden makes it qualified to be here.

Zen gardens are most often associated with Japanese culture. Since this type of garden originated there. The main design approach for this type of garden is minimalist.

A zen garden is perfect for people who are looking for “zen”. This type of garden is clutter free and minimal, so as a result it is soothing and relaxing to be in one. It is perfect for meditating and reflecting.

Most zen gardens have crisp lines, source of water and elaborate & big ones even have fish ponds with Koi fishes of course. The sound of water adds up to the zen vibe these gardens have.

A Zen Garden with A Decent-Sized Pond

A zen garden with a pond. Perfect for housing some Koi fishes.

A Very Minimalist Zen Garden

This minimalist zen garden is a perfect area to perform some breathing exercises, meditation and simple relaxing stretches.

Green & Simple Zen Garden

Just by looking at this zen garden photo, it is relaxing already. It looks so fresh and green.

A Simple Zen Garden with A Bridge

The bridge adds a nice touch to this zen garden. It has greens, water, pebbles etc. It is such a nice place to meditate and relax.